
From its numerous record-breaking skyscrapers to its array of stunning Gothic buildings, Chicago’s spectacular architecture is by no means underappreciated.
Though many of us are well aware of Chicago’s architectural beauty, it is always lovely to see the city acknowledged as being good at things and affirm our great city as one of the best on the planet.
Having already been recognized as one of the best places in the world to spend summer last month, Chicago was then ranked in the top 15 cities in the world and now it has clinched yet another title—this time for its extraordinary architecture.

In a study seeking to rank the best holiday destinations for architecture lovers according to tourists themselves, Buildworld began by identifying the top 10 destination cities in every country according to each country’s Tripadvisor page. From there it analyzed tourist reviews of architectural sites in hundreds of cities around the world putting together a list of areas that had the highest density of top-rated buildings.
Filtering through Tripadvisor listings in each of these cities, the study looked at reviews of local architectural buildings, castles, churches and cathedrals, sacred and religious sights, ancient ruins, and bridges. The ratings of all of these were then recorded and after removing results of anything with fewer than five reviews the study calculated the percentage of architectural sites in each city with a 4.5-5-star rating and ranked the cities according to this metric.
Coming out as the “Best North American Destination for Architecture Lovers” was none other than our wonderful Windy City with 84% of architectural destinations in Chicago rated 4.5 stars or higher.

“The U.S. boasts three of the ten North American cities with the highest ‘hit rate’ of first-class architectural sites. Chicago leads the way,” the study stated. “The ‘Windy City’ has become associated with a brand of imposing but progressive buildings, having been largely redesigned following the 1871 fire.”
Frank Lloyd Wright, Ludwig Mies van der Roche, Jeanne Gang, Daniel Burnham, and John Root all received mention as the big-name architects to have influenced the city’s aesthetic while the Rookery Building was deemed “an unlikely treat” found “between the overbearing steel skyscrapers.”
Overall Chicago was ranked 6th in the world. 5th place went to Ecuador’s Quito and 4th place went to Liverpool in the United Kingdom. Liverpool’s neighboring city in the UK, Manchester tied in second place with Quezon City in the Philippines, and the”cultural capital” of Romania, Iasi, took the top spot with 92.31% of the architectural attractions earning a rating of 4.5 stars or more on Tripadvisor.
Overall six of the top ten cities for architecture were European while joint 10th-place Quebec City and 14th-placed Havana in Cuba were the only other North American representatives to make the top 20.
Read the full report at buildworld.co.uk.
[Featured image from Shutterstock]